Secrets Can Kill ~*~ Kali's Story
by Morning Glory Conlon
Summary: Part of Secrets Can Kill series Kali has a dark secret that she hasn't told any one about. It's killing her inside and out. She hasn't ever told her friends. One day she comes to a decision to take her own life.Will Blink, Jack, and Race get there in time
1. The beginning of the End

            . Kali walked through the bunkroom and into the practically empty washroom. Her green eyes fixed on the stall door.  She held the tears back until she was locked in the stall. Once inside the tears that had been threatening to spill over, flowed freely. The warm salty tears ran down her cheeks like rain. She leaned against the wall and let her head fall back against it with a soft thud.

            Kali slid her body against the wall until she was sitting on the hard wood floor.  Her hands trembled as she reached into her pocket and pull Jack's old razor blade out. A gleam of light flashed across it as Kali turned it in her hand examining it.

            There was a knock at the door and the blade slipped to the ground with a soft clank. She quickly picked it up. Her hands trembling terribly, "Yeah…" She called trying to make it seem like she wasn't crying.

            "Ya almos' done in d'ere?" The voice asked it belonged to Blink. Kali swallowed hard and cleared her throat to answer him.

            "Yeah…" She said again. It seemed to be the only word she could get out. Kali held her breathe and listen for the footsteps to leave, but they didn't. She decided it was now or never. '_No one would ever know'_ She thought to herself. 

            Kali picked up the blade in her hand and turned it over once more. She slowly dragged the cold metal across her wrist. Kali's whole body was trembling now. She watched as the blood immediately began to flow; She did the same to the other wrist.  For a few moments the emotional pain was replaced by the physical and she didn't seem to care about anything or any one. The emotional pain of her secret had been killing her inside; and now it was gone.

             The warm crimson red blood ran down her arms and onto the floor. Kali looked at what she had done and the tears began to flow even harder now. '_How could I have done this to myself? What did it do for me?' _ She asked herself. Kali reached up to open the door, but a sudden sweep of dizziness took over, finally everything seemed off in the distance and reality faded into the background.

            Her body fell limply against the floor. A pool of blood collected around her. Slowly spreading across the floor and running out from under the door.

            Blink knocked on the door again, "Kal-" He looked down and saw the blood seeping through under the door, "Damn it!" He shouted as he tried to break the door down. Jack walked into the washroom and saw Blink banging on the door.

"Do yah really need a shower d'at bad?" He asked Blink.

"Jack, she's tryin' tah kill herself, Kali!" He said panicked as he continued to try and get the door open. 

"Shit!" Jack called a few of the other guys in to help them get the door open, as he rushed to the stall to help Blink. Finally on the third try Blink, Jack, and Race succeeded in opening the door. 

            Blink rushed to Kali's side and checked the side of her throat for a pulse. He only hoped they weren't to late, "She's still alive." He said as he picked up her limp body and carried it out of the stall, "Jack get some towels to try and stop some of the bleeding." Blink had no idea what to do.  Jack did as he was told and got the towels wrapping them tightly around Kali's wrists.

 Kali could hear panicked voices worrying about her in the distance. She wanted to shout out to them that she was sorry and she never meant to hurt any of them. Only Kali couldn't. She felt trapped and alone in a cold, cruel, dark place that she couldn't get out of. The walls of this place seemed to be closing in and the voices of her friends were fading.

            "We gotta get her tah dah hospital." Jack said as he pushed people out of Blink's way. Race who was Kali's best friend pushed some of the others that wouldn't move.

            Blink, Jack, and Race rushed out of the lodging house in the dark and down the cobble stone road. The street lamps were just being lit and weren't too much help. Blink looked down at Kali when they ran under a street lamp and could see her face paling, "God don' let her die." Blink felt a tear rolled down his cheek. He had never been so scared in his life. Kali mumbled something that he couldn't really hear, but that was a good sign. At least she wasn't dead, "Jus' hang in d'ere Kal." He begged her.


	2. Fading Light

            When they arrived at the hospital Blink's face was almost as pale as Kali's. He held her in his arms talking to her hoping she would say something back to him and give him some hope that she would be all right.

            Jack rushed up to the nurses station, "We need help!" He called to the nurse behind the desk. She briefly glanced up at Jack and seeing as he was a newsie she didn't even bother to lift her head fully, "Excuse me." He said harshly to the nurse. Jack didn't want to lose his best friend and he wasn't going to let a stuck up, biased, nurse kill her.

            She lifted her head and raised an eyebrow at Jack. The look on her face said _you weren't talking to me that way were you? _She finally spoke to him, "You'll have to take a seat, sir, and some one will be right with you in a minute."

            Jack looked at the lady with disbelief.  Astonished that she would just turn back to her paper work with out finding out what was wrong. Race had stepped up besides Jack, "No we'se don' gotta minute." Race said furiously at the nurse as he pushed her papers aside, "D'is goil is gonna bleed tah death if she doesn't get some help."

            The nurse couldn't help but look up when Race pushed the papers aside. Jack had motioned for Blink to bring Kali towards the desk, "Don' jus' stan' there do somethin'!" Jack said to the nurse who was now standing and looking at them. 

            "Right this way…" The nurse said to the three of them as she led them down the hall. The nurse called out to doctors and other nurse to get various items needed to save Kali's life. 

            Kali was placed in a room. Two doctors rushed in and out with the assistance of the nurses,  "We are going to need blood." The doctor said as the dark crimson blood started dripping on to the floor sterol white floor and collected around the doctor's feet, "It's going to have to be from one of you."

            The doctor looked to Blink, Race, and Jack. Race started to roll his sleeve up, "I'll give hoir me blood." He said. The nurse walked over to Race and led him to the bed near Kali's. She took out a needled and tubing out. The nurse started to with draw the blood from Race and into a container. 

            Jack and Blink stood there feeling helpless like they should be doing something. They watched as the doctor removed the blood saturated towels from around there dear friend's wrists, "Miss Benton, please escort these boys to where they can wait."  The doctor called. Miss Benton took her arms and pushed the boys out of the room. 

_"She's going to need blood…" The voice echoed through Kali's head. She could hear Blink pleading with the doctor to let him stay. She could hear Race volunteer to give her his blood. Then every thing went black, the voices of her friends had faded away. Kali was alone and lost in her own world._

Blink tried his hardest to get the nurse and doctor to let him stay. He looked at Kali's face one last time before the door was pulled so it slowly swung closed, She's in critical state!" The doctor called, "I need more blood…" The door clicked shut.

 The way Kali looked was ingrained in his head. He was never going to be able to forget this day. It hurt him to think that she couldn't come to him and let him help her. Blink wanted to be there for her, Kali wouldn't let him get close to her.

***********************************

            Jack sat in a chair leaning forward; he had his thumbs and index fingers pressed against his forehead, "What happened?" He asked not understanding, "What pushed her over the edge?"

"I dunno Jack." Blink said aggravated, as he paced the room. He couldn't sit still. Kali's pale, cold, lifeless face was stuck in his mind and no matter hard he tried to think of her a few weeks ago when she was happy he couldn't. Blink didn't want this to be the last time he ever looked at Kali.

Race sat next to Jack leaning back in his chair. They had taken a lot of blood from him, just enough to get Kali stable. Race was feeling a bit woozy as he sat there staring up at the ceiling as if all the answers were written up their and that he'd find them, "She seemed so happy, did we'se do somethin'?"

With every announcement and call made the three grew worried. They hadn't heard anything about their friend, "No one knows Race!" Blink snapped at Race, "We are nevah gonna know."

Jack looked up at his friend, "Blink, we'll know when she's ready tah tell us." He said, "She ain't gonna die."

The doctor walked out to where Blink, Race, and Jack were sitting, "You three men who brought the girl in." He said more then asked. Three stood up quickly and walked over to the doctor.

"How is she?"  Blink asked, looking at him trying to read the doctor's expression.


	3. Will Things Ever Be the Same

            Race stood there holding his hat wringing it in his hands. He wish the doctor would just come out with it and tell them what was going on if Kali was alive or dead. This was killing him. The doctor went into his whole thing about what had happen to her and what he did to help her.

            "How is she?" Jack asked again wondering what the doctor was covering up and didn't want to tell them. Blink's face went pale again as he began to think that she had died. The tears behind his eyes pressed behind his eyes, they were so strong that they spilled over flowing down his cheeks endlessly.

            "Jus' tell us if she's okay." Race said seeing his friend break into tears. The doctor looked at them all and drew a deep breath causing them more angst and anxiety.

            "You're friend is going to be okay. She is weak right now from all the blood loss, but she's going to be okay because of the blood from this young man. You all saved her life." The doctor took out his charts and looked at them, "I would like to keep her here for a few days for observation."

            Jack nodded and let of the breath he had been holding. He placed a hand on Blink's shoulder, "Can we'se see her?" Blink asked as he took the back of his sleeve and dried his eyes. The doctor's word wasn't good enough for him he needed to see her to make sure she was okay. It was the only way he would be able to be set at ease.

            The doctor hesitated when he answered, "Sure." He didn't want them to go see her in fear that they might upset her again and something would happen, but the looks on the three of there faces had changed his mind. The doctors led them down the hall and towards a different room passing the one that she had been in. Blink looked in the room, not because he wanted to, but because something inside made him. He saw a janitor in there cleaning the blood up from the floor.

            The three reached Kali's room and walked in quietly. Kali was lying on a white bed with bandages around her wrists. To the three of them she looked so peaceful and they began to think how could this happen to some one they know, some one who was their close friend. To some one who was more then just a friend to him, Blink cared for Kali so deeply that it hurt him to see her lying there is the bed hurt. Blink walked over to Kali and placed his hand gingerly on her arm. He tenderly stroked her arm. 

            Kali opened her eyes when she felt Blink's touch, "I…I'm sorry…" She choked back the tears. When Kali's eyes fell upon Blink's face she could tell that he had been crying and she felt horrible for making them worry about her. The tears slipped down her cheeks.

            "Sshh…" Blink looked at her with soft eyes. He gently wiped her tears away with his thumbs, "Id's all gonna be okay. We'se can jus' put this behind us."

            Jack and Race stood by the door watching the two. Race had stopped wringing his hat and placed it back on his head. Kali looked over to them. 

            "We'se know yer sorry. You don' have tah say nothin'." Race walked over to her and picked up her hand.

            Jack walked into the room further, "In a few days you'll be back in dah lodgin' house an' everythin' will be back tah day way it was, but bettah."  Jack began to think about what he was going to tell the rest of the guys. They were probably still worried about Kali. Jack was thinking of going to the lodging house and telling the guys, but he didn't want to leave Kali, "We'se all can put this behin' us and forget 'bout it Kali." 

            Kali's eyes dropped to the white blanket. She began to fiddle with the edge. The long awkward silence was broken by a faint knock at the door. Jack looked to Kali to say if she wanted who ever it was to walk in or not, but she seemed to be ignoring it, "Come in." Jack said quietly to who ever it was.

            The door gradually opened and Mush stepped inside. He eyes immediately fell onto Kali and then down to her wrists. There was a little blood seeping through the clean white bandages, "How are you?" He asked her cautiously as he walked towards the bed. Mush made and attempt to look at something else, but the same thing that had made Blink look into the room made him look down at Kali's wrists. Race let go of Kali's hand so Mush could get in to see her. Kali reluctantly let go of his hand.

            "I'm okay." She said the tears had slowed down, but still fell. She looked at each one of their face's each asking the same thing of her, '_I can't tell them why I did this. They'll never understand. They'll all hate me and they'll never talk to me ever again. How am I going to face every one at the lodging house? They are all going to act different and they will treat me different. I don't want people walking on eggshells on the account of me and my stupid mistake.'_

            No one knew what to say. They didn't want to upset her. Kali finally spoke up, "I…I did this…. because…" She couldn't finish her sentence.

            "You'se don' gotta tell us if you'se don' wanna." Blink said taking her hand.

            "I want to tell you…." She said to them, '_I just don't know how too. It's now or never."_ Kali took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled, "I did it because…."


	4. The Secret Revealed

            The room fell silent waiting for her to finish. Blink held her hand tightly to let her know that he was there for her. The warm tears slipped down her cheeks splashing on to the white blankets, "The Delanceys…" 

            As soon as the words were out of her mouth the four of them tensed up. Jack new the Delanceys were brutal, but he didn't know that they could do anything so horrible to push Kali over the edge where she would want to kill herself. Blink brushed the hair out of Kali's eyes and brushed her tears away, "Kali, it's okay ya don' hafta tell us if you'se ain't ready tah tell us yet."

            Every one really wanted to know what the Delanceys had done so they would know how bad to soak them. Even though Blink and Jack had already planed to soak them no matter what. Every one in the lodging house was extremely close to Kali. In some way kali had helped or touched every one in the lodging house. She always put other before herself and helped people if they were in need. No matter what the consequences were for her self.

            "Hey take a few deep breaths and relax Kali." Race said taking a cigar out of his pocket and played with it. Every one was feeling awkward at this point. No one knew what to say to her.

            "Th-they raped me." Kali let out breathlessly. Before she could say anything more Jack and Blink stood up to leave and find Oscar and Morris. Mush looked at the two of them with a look that said to wait Kali needed them more then the Delanceys needed to be soaked.

            "I-I didn't tell any one…one because I felt like I was nothing after that. And I….I thought people would…would think horrible things if I told and then it just started eating away at me…I couldn't handle it any more…." She put her hands to her face

            "When did d'is happen?" He asked her furious that this could happen to any of his newsies. Her asked Kali this a little more harsher then he would of like to, "Kal, you'se coul' of tol' us. We'se woul' of thought any less of you'se. Id wasn' yer fault."

            "Kali, we'se nevah wan'ed yah tah go through d'is pain you coul' of come tah me. Or even tol' Sarah and she coul' of tol' us." Blink dried Kali's eyes again. Jack paced the room running his hand through his hair.

            Race spoke up, "How about we let Kali get some res'. Dah nurse is gonna kick us out sonnah of latah." 

            "Can one of you stay with me please?" Kali asked sobbing slightly. She was afraid to stay by herself. Blink wanted to stay, but he wanted to soak the Delanceys badly for what they had done to the girl he loved. Blink had never been so terrified in his life. On the way to the hospital Blink realized he was in love with Kali and if he had lost her tonight he would of died himself.

            "I'll stay." Race volunteered. He knew what Blink and Jack wanted to do, "I still a little woozy." He lied just so he could stay with his best friend.

            Blink stood up and walked over to Race placing a hand on his shoulder, "Thanks man. I appreciate this greatly."

            "Kali, Blink and I will be back latah ta see how's you'se doin', okay?"  Jack said more then asked. He walked over to Blink and the two of them walked out of the door.

            Mush was the last one left in the room. He looked down at his hat he held in his hands turning it around by the rim, "Hey Kal I am gonna go back tah dah lodgin' house. I though' I'se woul' get you'se yer grandmothah's blanket?"

            Kali nodded, "Thank you, Mush." She said quietly. Mush walked over and gave her a quick hug and left the room.

            "C'mon get some sleep." Race said to her as he sat down in the chair that was by the side of her bed, "I'll be righ' heah fer yah while you'se sleep an' I ain't gonna leave me bes' frien' heah alone."

            "I am sorry again." Kali said her voice quivered.

            "Hey now theah's no need tah apologize." He said knowing how sorry she was.

            Jack and Blink walked down the cobblestone streets back towards the lodging house. The sky was complete dark now and the street lamps that were barely lit when they went to the hospital where fully lit. Jack wanted to stop by the lodging house to rally some of the guys and let them know that Kali was okay.

            Jack and Blink walked into the lodging house. The bunkroom was abuzz about what had happened to Kali and why she had killed herself of tried to kill her self.

            "I heard it was a loan shark. She owed him too much money and thought if she killed herself she wouldn't have to pay." Snipeshooter said with wide-eyed. Bumlets and Skittery had been listening to the rumors flying through the bunkroom, when Bumlets spotted Jack and Blink. He nudged Skittery with his elbow and soon a chain reaction had gone through the bunkroom. A hush fell over the bunkroom and all eyes fell upon Jack and Blink.

            "Kali's fine, jus' really upset." He started out reliving a lot of stress and anxiety from every one. There was a long pause every one started blankly at Jack. Jack debated on whether to tell them why she had done it and that they were going to soak the Delanceys. . Blink idle stood by listening to Jack take care of things. His thoughts were on soaking the Delanceys and Kali.

            Specs finally asked the question plaguing every one's mind, but they were too afraid to speak up, "Why'd she do it?" Jack could tell by the tone of Spec's voice that he was hurt and angry by this whole situation, '_How coul' some one be so selfish to take there own life with out thinking about every one who cared for her and how badly she was going to hurt every one if she had actually succeeded' _Specs pushed his glasses up on his nose.

            "I ain't actually shoah. Kal said it had tah do wid dah Delanceys." Jack answered Specs. Some of the newsies were angry; somewhere sad and the others were relived. Some of them were confused and didn't know how to handle this, it was all new to them. Each of them had there own way of dealing with the suicide attempt. 

            Dutchy stood up, "Dah Delanceys didn' make hoir do it. D'ey weren' standin' d'ere draggin' dah blade across hoir wrists!" He shouted his blonde locks falling into his eyes.

            "No, but they played a par-" Jack was interrupted by another newsie. He sighed running his hand through his hair again. He wasn't going to get any where with these guys so mad.

            Blink couldn't listen to them talk about Kali like this. It wasn't all her fault, "D'ey raped her!" He shouted at all of them. The arguing ceased and all eyes fell upon Blink, "She has apologized to many times. Yah guys need tah t'ink before you'se tawk!"

            No one spoke for several moments, "Whad are we'se gonna do about dah Delanceys?" Bumlets asked pinking up his walking stick.

            "Kill um." Skittery muttered slamming his fist into his palm. 

            "Somethin' like d'at." Jack said to them calmly, "Heah's dah plan…"


End file.
